bigc wrote:Speaking of which...when the hell is Nina Nastasia going to record again?

I need the stuff...just a taste.

I remember someone here mentioned her being at Electrical to record some new stuff - but this was quite a while ago. Last year some time.

INFORMATION! SOMEBODY PLEASE!

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

Has it?

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

or, maybe Just-intoned Zithers?

or, how about a band without a fucking drummer...just for once?

Part of the problem, as I see it, is a lack of true discipline and dedication on the part of most rock musicians. There are many competent players out there, but if one does not have a true mastery of their instrument it will be difficult to realize any type of revolutionary approach to making music. This is not the rule, but I believe it is applicable in most instances. Also, a diverse musical background will be necessary. It would be unreasonable to expect that a bunch of 20 year olds with influences that go back to 1991 to come up with much that breaks away from the norm.

geiginni wrote:Part of the problem, as I see it, is a lack of true discipline and dedication on the part of most rock musicians. There are many competent players out there, but if one does not have a true mastery of their instrument it will be difficult to realize any type of revolutionary approach to making music. This is not the rule, but I believe it is applicable in most instances. Also, a diverse musical background will be necessary. It would be unreasonable to expect that a bunch of 20 year olds with influences that go back to 1991 to come up with much that breaks away from the norm.

Absolutely - I totally agree with you on that. The problem is that the 20 year olds with influences back to 1991 are what floods 99.9% of our airwaves and internet bandwidths.

I'd also like to add that there is an incredible amount of what appears to be lazy songwriting. I don't find hardly any songs today with a decent hook, or any memorable moment.

Maybe people are trying so hard to write/play something different, they've forgotten how to be good at playing within the confines of modern rock/pop music?

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

Has it?

Well, maybe he's right...

John Zorn writing a piece using only three notes is much more challenging and interesting.

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

Has it?

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

or, maybe Just-intoned Zithers?

or, how about a band without a fucking drummer...just for once?

Part of the problem, as I see it, is a lack of true discipline and dedication on the part of most rock musicians. There are many competent players out there, but if one does not have a true mastery of their instrument it will be difficult to realize any type of revolutionary approach to making music. This is not the rule, but I believe it is applicable in most instances. Also, a diverse musical background will be necessary. It would be unreasonable to expect that a bunch of 20 year olds with influences that go back to 1991 to come up with much that breaks away from the norm.

Well put.

I'd add to the lack of musicianship, and small spheres of influence the tradition of specific touchstones within genres, even those which are not themselves part of the genre.

There's certainly a glut of indie-based music that's flooding the markets, but do you really think there's a decreased amount of good music coming out today? It's a wheat-from-the-chaff issue, i.e. in the midst of the onslaught of daily releases, a lot of great stuff (which, with hindsight and the sloughing off of most of this shit) that will be heralded as essential music in 10 years. That hasn't changed much, really. Jesus, step into any thrift shop and thumb through the shit on those racks -- the past was no utopia of excellent music. Just, as now, a few diamonds in a sea of shit.

Nostalgia does wonders for every form of media. I'll be stoked to hear all the great, hard-to-find stuff I'm missing now in another 5 years.

Adam CR wrote:

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

Has it?

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

or, maybe Just-intoned Zithers?

or, how about a band without a fucking drummer...just for once?

Part of the problem, as I see it, is a lack of true discipline and dedication on the part of most rock musicians. There are many competent players out there, but if one does not have a true mastery of their instrument it will be difficult to realize any type of revolutionary approach to making music. This is not the rule, but I believe it is applicable in most instances. Also, a diverse musical background will be necessary. It would be unreasonable to expect that a bunch of 20 year olds with influences that go back to 1991 to come up with much that breaks away from the norm.

Well put.

I'd add to the lack of musicianship, and small spheres of influence the tradition of specific touchstones within genres, even those which are not themselves part of the genre.

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

Well, electronics instead of guitars, there's Four-Tet.

Is that just a name, or do they base their music on a 4-tone scale?

gio wrote:

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

Well, electronics instead of guitars, there's Four-Tet.

Is that just a name, or do they base their music on a 4-tone scale?

I assumed Four-Tet is like Quatre-Tete, a really stupid band name making a play on the word "forehead". Kinda like Cabeza Fria was doing back in the 90's with "head cold".

Please let's not have names like that, people.

As far as quarter-tones guitars, I mentioned here probably more than a year ago that Todd from US Maple/ Cheer Accident has a guitar that has half-frets installed between the 0 and 5th frets for the 1st through 3rd strings. I got to play it once. It was interesting, though unnecessary.

Let's keep in mind that what with the string bending ("blue" notes) guitar is already not limited to any number of "notes". Kinda like any fretless stringed instrument, like a violin or whatnot. Or a trombone. Or any other instrument where you have to work to get proper intonation.

Considering one single instrument, let's go with a guitar... with 12 different tones, if you make a 3:00 song (and of course songs could really be any of an infinite number of lengths) and arrange combinations of those 12 tones, considering you could have a rest, a single note, a doublestop, a 3-note chord, etc, and you can arrange every combination of those notes/chords in every order, with note durations of any of an infinite number of lengths...

long story short, the idea that 12-tone scale = "it's all been done" is stupid. There are infinitely more 3 minute songs, that could be played on ONE INSTRUMENT with those 12 tones, than you could ever listen to if you spent your entire life doing so. It's a stupid idea. Think about it.

sunlore wrote:

Adam CR wrote:

geiginni wrote:

unarmedman wrote:There only so much you can do with a 12-tone musical system.
And guess what?

It's all been done.

Has it?

So who's going to be the first indie rock band to build and play quarter-tone guitars?

or, maybe Just-intoned Zithers?

or, how about a band without a fucking drummer...just for once?

Part of the problem, as I see it, is a lack of true discipline and dedication on the part of most rock musicians. There are many competent players out there, but if one does not have a true mastery of their instrument it will be difficult to realize any type of revolutionary approach to making music. This is not the rule, but I believe it is applicable in most instances. Also, a diverse musical background will be necessary. It would be unreasonable to expect that a bunch of 20 year olds with influences that go back to 1991 to come up with much that breaks away from the norm.

Well put.

I'd add to the lack of musicianship, and small spheres of influence the tradition of specific touchstones within genres, even those which are not themselves part of the genre.